At this age, kids are learning to roll over, reach out to get what they want, and
sit up.
You can help your child by providing a safe place to practice moving and lots of
interesting objects to reach for or move toward.
How Babies This Age Move
By now babies should be able to hold their head and chest up when lying on their
stomach. During this stage, they begin pushing their head and chest further by straightening
the arms and arching the back, which strengthens chest and back muscles.
Your child also might begin moving his or her legs and rocking on the stomach.
In this way, babies are getting ready to roll over and build up to crawling.
During this period, your baby will probably learn to roll over in both directions.
So be sure to never leave your little one unattended. These newfound movements
could cause a child to fall from a bed or couch unless supervised. Even if your child
never rolled over before, there's always a first time. Babies like to surprise parents
that way.
With improved neck and trunk strength, babies learn to sit when placed in that
position with support. Over these months, your baby will learn to lean forward with
arms outstretched for support, then gradually gain the strength and confidence to
sit unaided, though he or she won't be able to get into a sitting position without
some help.
Leg strength is also improving. Your baby will learn to support all his or her
weight when held in a standing position. It's important not to force a baby to stand
who is not ready, but by 7 months most infants enjoy standing (and bouncing!).
Reaching and Grabbing
Babies use their hands more and more and will learn to reach and grab for what
they want. They're also learning how to pass an object from one hand to the other,
how to turn them round and round for inspection, and how to pick up objects by raking
things with the fingers into their grasp.
Give your child lots of toys with sounds and textures to pick up, shake, and explore.
Be careful with small objects because babies will place just about anything they can
into their mouths for further exploration, so watch for potential
choking hazards.